


Locked Up

by Unoriginal_Fangirl



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canonical Character Death, Drake said screw it and uses eddie as test subject, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, FLUFF EVENTUALLY, Help, I have issues, I watched the movie twice now, M/M, Mild Language, Sharing a Body, Slow Burn, This has probably been done before, Torture, Tumblr Prompt, Venom is afraid of Carlton Drake, Venom is innocent okay, and multichap, and probably not finishing so dont get your hopes up, basically everyone - Freeform, chapter 5 & onward is written after seeing the movie, havent seen the movie so idk, he says shit and fuck, how graphic does violence have to be before the graphic violence tag is used, i dont know how graphic its gonna be im pantsing it, i suck at slowburn, i wanted to write a multichap, like Eddie swears, no seriously i found a tumblr post, nothing you dont hear in the movie id guess, still it's gonna be fun im sure, that asked for this, then mad as heck bc this bih is in his body, well for us not for Eddie and venom and anne, well more like eddie is terrified of v at first, whatever
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2019-08-04 01:51:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 17,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16337453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unoriginal_Fangirl/pseuds/Unoriginal_Fangirl
Summary: Tumblr user foeyayshippingweakness said they wanted a slowburn multichap with Eddie as a test subject so I'm putting my spin on it, but I haven't seen the movie so it's probably inaccurate.Eddie knew that pushing Drake about what he had found out was a stupid idea. He just didn't realize what consequences it would have for him. Turns out, Drake needed a human test subject to replace one who failed him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Concept, characters & universe aren't mine, okay. The story & details are my ideas, but they all stem from the concept I credited in the summary. Also I regret this. Don't get your hopes up, I might fuck this up. I'll try to post every weekend, so just check in every monday and there's a 75% chance there's a chapter. You can leave a comment if I'm late, I'm currently three chapters ahead so.. Also point out any typos or errors if you want to

“Mr Brock, could you please not?” Carlton Drake asked him tightly. Eddie studied the man’s face, his posture. Drake was tense. He was uncovering the truth. He was getting closer, Drake struggled to keep his calm composure. He quickly wrote down every detail, down to the way Drake’s teeth were clenched and his fingers on his lips pressed so hard into each other they were white. 

Eddie raised his gaze to meet Drake’s. “You do realize a lot of what you do here violates basic human rights, which, if brought to life, could ruin your entire career? What makes you so desperate to do this?” he asked, leaning back in his chair. He couldn’t hide the smug look on his face even if he wanted to. God, Drake probably hated him by now. 

“I agreed to an interview, not an interrogation,” the man stated. Even though he looked tense, Drake’s posture was flawless. His back was straight, one knee over the other. His hands were folded together, resting in his lap. He looked paler than at the start of their interview, but if Eddie hadn’t been in this career for a while he wouldn’t have noticed the differences in how Drake acted toward him. It was part of the job, judging people by reading their body language. It was easy to speak a lie, but to make sure your body didn’t reveal your lie… That was a whole other art. One Carlton Drake, fortunately, did not possess. 

“Yeah, some often confuse the two. Aren’t they the same, though? I mean, I ask you questions, you answer, you get nervous because I’m getting close to figuring out this case…” Eddie grinned, patting his notebook. “And this is entirely your own fault for being caught.” 

Drake had enough. Eddie could tell. His face, previously tensely polite, now housed an unmasked anger. He stood up and walked to where Eddie sat. “Listen here, stupid reporter. You have no proof of what I have done here.” 

“See, that’s what villains always say,” Eddie quipped. He would probably regret it soon, but at the time, he felt so powerful. He was actually putting a rich guy in his place. Time to scrap “frustrating rich guy” off of his bucket list. “However, you see, you still haven’t answered my question. Please, Mr Drake. Sit down. We’re far from finished.” 

He was trembling a little, he admitted. Drake was a powerful, impressive man. If he contacted the police before Eddie could, Eddie might be filed for harassment instead of Drake for violating human rights by putting these people in glass cages. 

“Oh, no. I actually think we are finished here. See, Mr Brock, you know an awful lot for just some reporter. I usually only take vagrants from the streets, but I’m sure I could make an exception. Men,” Drake said, his face inches from Eddie’s. He smelled like expensive cologne and  _ lies.  _ He stretched his back and watched with a smirk how his guards grabbed Eddie’s arms. “Do try to behave.”

He even waved at Eddie as the guards led the reporter away. He was led deep into the facility, through halls of glass cells. Suffering people. Some were hitting the glass, screaming, begging to be let out of their cells. One looked dead. A black creature crawled out of them and made eye contact with Eddie, who quickly tore his gaze off of the cells to his sides.

That didn’t drown out the crying though. Wailing. Screaming. Begging. This place was horrible. Every second he spent here, the further away from civilization he felt. This wasn’t humane. This was what happened when you give the right resources to the wrong man. 

The guards pushed him into an empty cell, and by now, Eddie was questioning every major decision he had ever made in his life, starting with befriending a kid in elementary school. Every major decision is every major decision. 

The door closed and the guards left him. Was he gonna die here? Was this the end? Oh god, what would Anne be thinking? What would Drake tell her? He was so screwed, shit, he fucked up… 

Eddie didn’t move. He didn’t for the rest of the day and barely twitched when the lights turned off and he didn’t shift into a more comfortable position for the rest of the night. He didn’t sleep. The floor was hard and cold, he could never sleep on it. 

So, when Drake came to him the next day, he felt like hell. He probably looked miserable too, seemingly staring into the void. He’d rather just be dead now. That would probably be better than staying here. At least, if he was dead, he wouldn’t have to feel bad for Anne. He wouldn’t have to worry that Drake told her he had died, because then he would have. Clearly, Eddie’s death was not on Drake’s agenda. 

Eddie definitely did not want to know his actual plans.

Drake pulled Eddie’s notebook from his pocket. “He twitches. He’s paler than usual. Struck a nerve,” he read, finishing with a dark look at Eddie. “You really wanted to turn this into the police, hm?” 

Eddie said nothing, just glared. He knew he probably looked stupid. Did it really matter, though? He was surrounded by people who lived on the streets, he was lucky. 

“That will never happen. You’ll stay here, see? I’ll put this through the shredder, it’s useless now. Now, your girlfriend will lose both her boyfriend and her job. What a shame.” 

“Leave Anne out of this!” Eddie growled. He was willing to do anything, to take anything, just so Anne wouldn’t be harmed. He had made the mistakes. He had to pay the price. She shouldn’t suffer, he should. She should be safe, even if it meant he had to take twice the pain. 

Drake leaned forward. “So you haven’t lost your tongue. Well, now I know you’re listening, I will tell you what you wanted to hear. There are creatures from a different planet, symbiotes, that can bond with humans. Here, we have been very busy finding hosts for the symbiotes that won’t collapse after an hour or go insane after twenty-four, but you never know with street-rats. I wasn’t planning on using any healthy people, honestly. However, no one misses a few vagrants, so I took them. And then, you barged in and messed up all my plans. You see, you’re a healthy, young man. This might actually work.” 

He sounded almost sadistic. The look on Drake’s face said that he wished this would fail on Eddie too, so he could dispose of the reporter without actually having to murder him. It terrified the reporter now he was in a cell. He couldn’t run. 

Hosts probably meant people, which meant that most people who had been bonded with these symbiotes had died very quickly. Probably with a lot of suffering, if the agonized noises from all around him were something to go by. 

“I’m not your damn test subject, Drake,” Eddie snapped, trying to push the suffering of so many to the back of his mind. 

Drake smirked at him and revealed a jar from behind his back, showing off its completely black contents. “We’ll see about that,” he told the reporter. He opened the door slightly and emptied the jar within the cell, before turning around and leaving. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who actually watched the movie y'all I did twice & I started chapter 5 after watching it so 5 & after will be with knowledge of the movie yeet

It was fear that held Eddie’s heart in an iron grip. The black goo didn’t move at first, completely quiet. It had to be dangerous. Drake wouldn’t have looked at him like a villain from a comic book if this wasn’t dangerous and probably about to kill him the moment he looked away.

It moved. Like a snake, the black goo slithered over to him. A head appeared from it, with empty white eyes, teeth that could rip his face off and an unnerving tongue. It looked absolutely terrifying.

Like any normal human being, Eddie crawled away from it. He moved backwards until his back was pressed against the glass. His hoodie was drenched in sweat. He wouldn’t take his eyes off the symbiote. It stared back, slithering toward him.

It was useless. The cell was too small, he couldn’t run from the symbiote. He closed his eyes and gave in.

The symbiote leapt and landed on his shoulder before literally entering him through his skin. Eddie shivered at the weird sensation, staring fearfully at the spot where the creature had sat mere seconds before.

Different memories were brought up, like losing his parents, going to college, meeting Anne… All until he got here and the symbiote made him recall Drake’s sadistic smirk.

 **_“Eddie,”_ ** it said, almost as though it was tasting his name. Eddie kept his eyes closed, terrified of the creature that was genuinely inside of him. Non-consensually.

“Yeah. Who are you?” he decided to ask. Ah, Eddie Brock, the biggest genius of the year. Maybe he was hallucinating or having a nightmare. Ah, that would be fantastic. Then he would wake up soon, kiss his fiance and go to work like a normal person. Not be locked inside some glass cell, far away from human society, with some alien parasite in his body.

 ** _“We are Venom.”_** The creature crawled from his skin and tilted its head. It was terrifying. Wait.

“Who is we?” Eddie asked suspiciously. Were all the symbiotes ‘Venom’? Were there more weird aliens beneath his skin?

The creature's mouth twisted into what looked like a smirk. It was rather difficult to read with its empty eyes and large goddamn teeth. It could probably bite off his head like chocolate. **_“Us. You, me. We are Venom,”_ ** it said.

Eddie was unsure what to say. He wasn’t Venom, he was Eddie Brock. A reporter. Who had gotten himself kicked into a cell and would probably die soon? “Yeah, no, you’re on your own with that.”

The symbiote chuckled. Eddie could _feel_ its amusement. **_“You sound like you think you have a choice.”_ ** Yeah, clearly he didn’t. He had skipped out on going to the gym one too many times to even stand the smallest chance against an alien.

 **_“I can take control over your body whenever I want, your strength has nothing to do with your chances of surviving a fight with me. Not that that is what I want. Drake has captured us. We have to get out,”_ ** it told him.

“Yeah, we can’t. That glass is sturdy as hell. I think it’s made to hold your kind,” Eddie responded. The creature moved to the glass and pushed against it. It didn’t budge, of course. If Drake wanted to keep the symbiotes, obviously the cells he had would have to be able to hold them. They probably wouldn’t even be able to shatter the glass with a hammer.

 **_“It can’t be unbreakable. Nothing is,”_ ** Venom murmured, trailing a black tendril over the surface of the glass. It twisted and turned, stretched to every corner, but the glass didn’t break. Defeated by _glass,_ the symbiote turned back to Eddie and crawled under the human’s skin.

He would probably never get used to that. Neither would he get used to the symbiote moving under his skin. He could feel it, moving around his chest and head before settling around his heart. “Wh-what the fuck?” Eddie choked out.

He could sense its amusement, which only made it worse. He was already running on coffee from yesterday, he hadn't slept and he was not closing his eyes with this weird alien inside him.

 **_“Have to sleep. Can't sustain my kind when weak. You'll die,”_ ** Venom informed him.

Eddie released a bitter laugh. Of course. A fucking alien parasite was telling him how to survive in a glass cage far from society. Anne would definitely not believe him if he woke up from this nightmare and told her.

**_“Not a nightmare. Reality.”_ **

Even better.

This was going to be an insufferable last period of his life.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already told you this was AU right?? I don't know honestly I wrote this chapter before seeing the movie so it's hella inaccurate but as I said I'm pantsing and too lazy to edit so woo enjoy

He woke up with a headache from sleeping against this glass, and his neck felt stiff as hell. This was going to be another terrible day, he just knew it. 

“ **_Goodmorning, Eddie.”_ **

Eddie jumped. Of course. He forgot the stupid symbiote attached to him. A goddamn parasite, probably feeding off his organs…

**_“Not a parasite,”_ ** Venom told him in response to his thoughts. Fantastic. A mind reader. As though sharing his body wasn't enough, now he had to deal with sharing his mind as well. 

“That's exactly what a parasite would say,” he said, trying not to sound completely afraid. Which he was. He was absolutely terrified by the creature.

He was just stubborn. He didn't want to show his fear, not with the cameras probably pointed at him 24/7. They could stuff him in a cage, stick a parasite in his body, but they could never take his pride. 

**_“They're gonna hurt us,”_ ** the symbiote spoke up. 

“Wh-what?” Eddie didn't want to be hurt. The worst pain he had been in was when he had scraped his knee when falling off his bike when he was eleven. Drake wasn't messing around. 

**_“He knows how to hurt us.”_ ** Yeah, no shit. Hurting him was  _ easy.  _ Just stab him with a knife and he’d scream. 

**_“Not like that. Hurt my kind.”_ ** Oh, of course, the weird alien creature in his body was almost indestructible. The world was definitely unfair. 

Eddie huffed. “Well, what the fuck am I supposed to do? Newsflash, we're in a cell, surrounded by indestructible glass. We can't do shit,” he growled. 

**_“You don't want to do anything. You're afraid.”_ **

“Oh, I'm sorry. Am I supposed to be happy with this? There's a goddamn parasite in my body talking to me, probably  _ killing  _ me.” 

The symbiote sighed.  **_“We're not killing you. You're a good host.”_ **

“Fuck you.” Eddie tried to focus on his mental image of Anne, tried to drown out the sensation of the symbiote crawling through his body. He would get out of here, get rid of the parasite and go back to her. He'd live happily ever after, and this would just be a stupid memory. A nightmare. 

**_“Eddie. We do not want to hurt you.”_ ** It moved back to his chest, inside his ribcage. One wrong move and the symbiote could kill him. 

“That's what you say, but you’re inside my body and that's really scary.” Not that it mattered. Drake wouldn't want to release him, he would probably die here. Better quick, right? 

**_“We won't kill you, Eddie.”_ **

Yeah, like he would trust the words of an alien. 

**_“We do not lie.”_ **

“Shut up,” Eddie muttered. He was not going to survive this place for long, was he? At least not with his sanity completely intact. “I need to think.” 

The creature hummed shortly before falling silent completely. Wow, it actually listened. 

Now, he was stuck. He was in a glass cell, with an alien residing in his body. Drake would probably come back and check up on him. Anne would think he was dead in a few weeks and move on. He'd lose his apartment, his job, his  _ life.  _ He couldn't help but ask himself whether the people he knew would actually want him back if he returned. 

Eddie had always known the risks of his job. There had always been a chance that he would be kidnapped or killed while working. That never stopped him. 

Yet, now he was actually held captive, he couldn't help but regret his actions. He had gone too far. What use did he have for the information he gathered if he were to just die in an underground facility? 

Footsteps echoed through the area, and Eddie looked up, catching Drake's gaze with his own. “I assumed you'd have died by now,” the rich man stated. 

Eddie grinned. “You're not getting rid of me that easily.” He felt the creature crawl to his back, furthest away from the man. Was Venom actually afraid of Drake? 

“Get up.” Drake pulled a gun from his pocket and nodded at his guards. He was not messing around. 

**_“Don’t follow him,”_ ** the symbiote told him, its voice echoing around his head. It sounded afraid. It was afraid of Drake. 

Eddie pushed himself to his feet. He narrowed his eyes at Drake, who merely smiled at him. 

He couldn't move. As he placed his foot forward to walk, his body was pulled back against the wall.  **_“Don't follow him!”_ ** the symbiote repeated, sounding panicked. 

“Are you coming, Mr Brock?” Drake asked him. 

“I'm trying,” Eddie hissed through clenched teeth. 

**_“Eddie!”_ ** the symbiote yelled. 

“Shut the fuck up, Parasite,” Eddie snarled.

He could move again. The presence in his muscles faded to a soft pressure in his back. He noticed Drake’s smirk but didn’t say a word as he followed the man. He couldn’t fight back. These guards looked like they went to the gym in one week as often as he had gone in his entire life, and Drake had a gun in his hand. He didn’t seem like the type to threaten and never shoot.

“That creature will probably have you dead in a week, Brock. The process will only speed up if it wants to. Where do you find the courage to insult it?” Drake asked as they moved past the other glass cells in the facility.

“I’m not afraid of death,” Eddie stated, trying to keep his voice as calm as he could through the cries from the vagrants. The place existed to drive him insane, he did not know how Drake was so relaxed surrounded by tortured people. 

Drake glanced at him over his shoulder, eyebrows raised. “What about your fiance? If you die, what will happen to her?” 

“There’s no difference between staying here and dying, Drake,” Eddie growled. He hated how Drake used Anne against him. He knew Eddie loved her, he knew he hated having to stay away from her. 

“Death is permanent. Don’t you have hope of returning to her?” Drake asked him curiously. Was he trying to judge his character? If he was, he wasn’t trying to hide it. 

“If I don’t return in a few months, I will be proclaimed dead. There will be a funeral, and Anne, as sad as it may be, will have to move on. I want her to be happy, even if it comes at the cost of me.” It hurt. He loved Anne. She loved him too, he was sure about that. She’d have such a hard time moving on, knowing he had been killed by Carlton Drake when no one would believe her. Eventually, she would find a new boyfriend. Someone to take care of her like he wanted to. She was amazing, she deserved it. 

Drake entered a room, Eddie followed. Drake passed through another door, Eddie was told to stay in the same room. Drake walked through the other room until he made eye contact with Eddie from behind the glass window. “As much as I would love talking about your girlfriend, there is something more important to me. I hope you didn’t anger the symbiote too much.”

“What do you want to do to me?” Eddie asked thinly. The room’s walls were covered in sound-isolating stuff, the floor looking shiny and just cleaned. It unnerved him. Venom moved restlessly through his body, clearly just as scared as he was. Possibly even more, at least it knew what the hell happened here. 

Drake didn’t respond, just gave him a sadistic smile before turning his gaze to what was probably a group of buttons right under the glass. He looked up again, eyes locking with Eddie.

That’s when Eddie got shot.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm here waiting for negative comments but you've all been so nice what the hell thank you

Now, Eddie had never been shot in his life. Somehow, even with his curiosity, he had managed to never get shot. He was thankful for that. It hurt like hell.

He had been shot through his leg by a hidden gun in the wall, which was still pointed at him. Blood trickled down his thigh, staining his jeans. He fell into an uncomfortable kneeling position, leaning completely on his still healthy leg and trying not to look at the injury. There was a hole in his thigh. There was a hole in him that should not be there. He had been shot and there was a weird alien in his body and he would die here and he honestly just wanted to see Anne one last time but he couldn’t and what the hell was the alien doing?

Venom went through his body into his leg, the injured one. “Hey, what are you doing?” Eddie asked suspiciously, glancing at his leg. He shouldn’t have done that. He had felt the blood but now he saw it. The large red spot on his jeans, the flesh torn open, fuck, he was going to throw up. 

**_“Can’t let Eddie get hurt,”_ ** it said. It didn’t want to do this, Eddie could sense that. This was what Drake expected from them. Drake wanted to see this. What this was?

Venom was healing him. He could feel his skin growing back together, the bullet forcibly removed from his body by the symbiote. It closed and continued healing until there was only a scar left from the injury. 

Then he got shot again, through the side. Once again, Venom moved quickly and efficiently healed the wound.  

They went at this for a while, Eddie lost any sense of time as he got shot and healed, one in his other leg, his arms, his hand… It was all a game to Drake. The rich man watched with curiosity as Venom healed every injury he inflicted on Eddie’s fragile human figure. It was straining. Even with this supernatural healing ability, his body wasn’t made for continuous pain and blood loss like this. Soon, he was too weak to stand, too weak to glare at the man watching him from behind the glass. 

The symbiote noticed it too. It crawled up into his neck and spread its black goo over Eddie’s skin, wrapping him entirely in its figure. Eddie heard Drake laugh victoriously, and it infuriated him. Bullets were shot at them, but Eddie felt nothing. They bounced harmlessly off of Venom. 

It terrified him. He had no control over his body. He could sense the symbiote’s protective anger and it frightened him. Why? Why did the symbiote even care? Surely he wasn't the only human suitable for a symbiote. He was pretty unhealthy, actually. Anne tried to help him take care of himself better, but he still liked to drink crappy beer and eat random junk food. There had to be better hosts than him. 

The shooting stopped. The room fell eerily silent. Venom didn't breathe. It stood there, still covering Eddie's entire body. 

The guards dragged in a person. A human figure, screaming, begging for help. It was a man, somewhere in his forties. Most likely homeless. Picked off the streets by Drake. 

_ ‘Wait, what?’  _ Eddie thought to himself. Why did they place a tied up, live human in the room? What did they expect? This would clearly be no gladiator fight… 

**_“Food,”_ ** the symbiote supplied ‘helpfully’. Eddie, who still had no control over his body, could only feel panic rising in his chest. He was not eating a human. Hell no. He was willing to do a lot to survive, to go home, but he was not a murderer and definitely not a cannibal.  **_“Food,”_ ** it repeated impatiently. 

‘ _ Human,’  _ Eddie responded in his mind.  _ ‘Not food.’  _

**_“Food,”_ ** Venom insisted. It surprised him that the alien didn’t just step forward and eat. What held it back? It wasn't like he was powerful enough to take control back from it.

_ ‘Not food.’  _ He hated this. The creature stepped forward using his legs. It wanted to eat a human while half his mass was still Eddie, just surrounded with the black goo that was the symbiote.

**_“We eat. Otherwise, we can't survive.”_ ** There was a valid logic behind that. Not that logic was something he would apply to his current situation. 

‘ _ You don't survive if you don't eat? Well, that’s great. Maybe then I'll have my mind to myself and Drake won't fucking shoot me,’  _ Eddie stated. If he could, he would be glaring at Venom. ‘ _ Parasite.’  _

Yeah, bad move. The symbiote continued walking toward the man before them. He was shaking in fear, and Eddie wanted nothing more than to help him escape. The man was innocent, he could tell. 

Venom leaned forward and grabbed the human.  **_“Food,”_ ** he said, before devouring the man whole. 

Eddie felt sick. This was what he had to live with now. An alien parasite that ate humans and controlled his body. It didn't pull away either, it remained on his skin like a protective armor. 

“We're done here, get them back to their cell,” Drake told the guards before he left through yet another door. 

Noticing how Drake was gone, Venom slipped back under Eddie's skin. The creature who ripped a human to pieces and ate him whole was under his skin, inside his body. 

It wasn’t the first time since Venom had joined with him that all he wanted was for it to get out. An innocent human was dead because of it. 

**_“We need food, Eddie. We'll die if we don't eat,”_ ** the symbiote told him. 

“Can’t you eat anything else?” Eddie asked thinly, following the guards without any struggle. He wanted to get out of that room, where blood lay over the entire floor. His blood. That man's blood.

It reeked of pain and death and he couldn't stay there longer. 

**_“They don't give us anything else that has what we need to survive.”_ ** Well, fuck. He was definitely ready to die. He did not want to live off of human flesh for the rest of his life. 

“What do you need to survive, then?” It felt really weird talking to someone who wasn't physically there. He was one of those people who very sometimes talked to themselves, but that wasn't talking to someone else who wasn't there. It wasn't like a phone call. Its voice entered his mind directly, not from his ear. Creepy.

“Phenethylamine,” a guard answered. “It's found in chocolate and human brains create it when a human is happy or in love.” 

“So why not feed it chocolate?” Eddie muttered. 

The guard laughed. “This isn't a hotel, you know. We're not spending money on chocolate when we can pick up vagrants for free.” 

Yup, there was the sick feeling again. He wanted to cry, honestly. This was all just an experiment to them, the humans the rats and the symbiotes whatever poison they injected the rats with. 

**_“Humans are fun to eat. Crunchier.”_ **

“What the fuck?!” Eddie exclaimed. “Stop that!” 

Venom crawled from his body and rested on his shoulder, grinning at him.  **“You'll get used to it,”** it said out loud for once, catching the guards’ attention. 

“I'm not going to get used to eating humans,” Eddie snarled, folding his arms over his chest and glaring at the symbiote.

**“Do you not want to survive, Eddie?** **_Escape this place?”_ **

_ ‘I'll never get out of here, so…’  _ “No, not really.” 

It sank back into his skin with a soft growl.  **_“Well, I'm not letting you die.”_ **


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of an interlude-esque chapter of only 521 words because I had no clue what to write here but I wanted this to happen so ??? Also from now on the chapters are written after seeing Venom twice so

Carlton turned to the doctor with glee in his eyes. “Don’t you see? Brock is the first one to achieve complete symbiosis! He’s the most important part of our plans now, Doctor Skirth,” he exclaimed joyfully. 

Dora watched the man almost dance around the room in silence. “How did he achieve it?” she asked softly. He hadn't told her what he had done to make this happen, of course. 

“well, you know I never willingly hurt innocent people we pick off the streets, right? But Brock, he came in here and asked me about the people who have died for our survival, telling me I would go to prison for it. I have no problem hurting him. I shot him, Doctor. I took him to  _ that  _ room and shot bullets at him. The symbiote healed it,” he explained, awfully calm for someone who was talking about shooting a man. “It protected him.” 

Dora flinched in sympathy. “There is no need to hurt the hosts,” she said softly. 

“If the symbiote and host match, the symbiote grants the host so much. Healing, invincibility, strength, speed… If one of these perfect hosts were to escape, well, they could take over the world. That's why we need to keep Brock here and run tests to see what makes him a good host. He tried to expose me, I can and will hurt him if I have to.” He gave her his brightest smile, a smile that never reached his eyes. None of his emotions did. 

“But, he…” 

“Well? By all means, speak your mind. I'm sure your children will enjoy having a jobless mother,” Carlton said. 

Dora winced. “It's nothing. I'm sorry.” 

“Exactly. Now, go do something useful instead of wasting my time.” His expression twisted into something like annoyance as easily as he had put up a smile. 

She lowered her gaze and nodded. “Of course.”  

Carlton patted her shoulder and put up his usual smile. “Good.” 

He walked away. 

Dora shook her head, trembling. She hated the way he handled things. She had admired his work at first, honestly. He had been on his way to cure  _ cancer,  _ how could she not? Then, he started his experiments on humans. And they died. Every single one of them had died. Eddie Brock had been right to point that out, even if his way of doing so had been horrible. What had he expected? To destroy Drake by simply telling the man he was a murderer?

Drake was so insanely rich, he could have done anything to break Eddie. 

Still, it didn't give him permission to lock Eddie up in a cell and run tests on him. That went against the law. Everything they did with the symbiotes was technically against the law. They were murderers, essentially. Dora hated to admit that. She knew it wasn't her fault, that her punishment would be less because she had been forced to do it. 

Not that they would ever be caught and prosecuted. Drake was that rich, that influential, the world would probably fall apart if he suddenly left and who would pick up the pieces? 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So like quick question guys please respond:  
> There are 2 options. Either there will be a few very repetitive chapters following their adventures a few months with minimal build to romance and the same torture and tests every fukin chapter, or there will be a timeskip in between 10 & 11 and get closer to the romance first but probably will flow a little awkwardly. Both versions are awkward.   
> I was planning about 12/13 chapters in the facility and a few outside and stretching it out will be a pain in the ass to write so I don't know if I'd made it but I feel like I'm letting you down if I just do a timeskip. They're being nice to each other in 10, so you wouldn't miss much bonding if I skipped.

After a while, Eddie found himself in a rhythm. He would wake up and stare out the glass, before Drake and his guards would come to pick him up for the tests. He did get pee breaks in between and got fed twice a day. Once a human, once a meal to give him the nutrients he as a person needed to survive and sustain the symbiote.

Venom gave up fighting. It still made Eddie feel more fear than should be humanly possible, but it didn't take over his body so he couldn't leave. 

Eddie woke up. He didn't know what time or day it was, or how long he had been here. He didn't want to look at the letters and numbers on his cell door that could tell him. He didn’t want to know. It terrified him. How long had he been gone? How long had the symbiote resided within him? 

It couldn't have been too long. Eddie dreaded having to go through this cycle of pain and hopelessness for longer. 

Drake didn't come with them today. A female doctor walked up to his cell and opened it. Guards stood by the side, ready to restrain him with fire and bad sounds if they had to. 

“Hello, I'm Dora Skirth. I'm so sorry for what has happened to you so far and for Carlton Drake's actions. He wanted me to take you to the test room so we can scan your body and make sure your functions are still intact,” she said quickly, putting on a nervous smile in hopes to calm him down. 

Eddie cocked his head to the side. No pain? Drake wanted to hurt him. Why would he… 

He stood up. “ **_Doctor Skirth is good,”_ ** the symbiote told him slowly when he noticed it was calm.  **_“She doesn't like hurting people.”_ **

She didn't seem like the type who enjoyed that. Whereas Drake was cold, calculating, possibly a sociopath, Skirth was afraid. She trembled, every step she took was uncertain. “Why do you work for Drake?” he asked. 

“He inspired me. Said we would cure cancer. I needed a job to support my children. Working at the Life Foundation was my best shot and I took it,” she explained. 

Eddie looked her over. She definitely wasn’t at ease with her job. “If he inspires you so much, why do you seem afraid to be here?” He kept his voice soft and gentle, a polar opposite to the screams that had passed his lips whenever Drake had hurt him, the swear words he yelled at Drake every time he saw him. 

“If I quit, I won't be able to support my kids. I don't want to hurt people, kill them, but I can't be fired or else my children will…” She didn’t continue. She didn't have to. A job at the Life Foundation didn't seem easy to get out of. 

“Single mom?” he guessed softly. Doctor Skirth nodded. 

She led him to a different room and guided him into another glass cage. “We're just going to see how your intestines are holding up, alright? It hasn't hurt the other...volunteers, so you should be fine,” she explained. 

He found himself trusting her. She seemed kind.

Doctor Skirth left the glass cage and stepped behind the scientists behind computers. 

The symbiote in his body was weirdly calm as well. It didn't run around his veins in fear, clearly, it didn't have bad memories with this room and these people. 

It was painless, thankfully. Drake had a habit of hurting him needlessly just to spite him that his scientists didn't share. 

She stepped in and led him back out. As they walked back to the cell, she glanced at him. “Some of your intestines are behaving abnormally, but we suspect that it’s harmless. The signs of a host rejecting the symbiote haven't shown up within you, however. Usually, after a few days, the host dies. It has been over a week and you're still fine. I think you and the symbiote have achieved the first full symbiosis,” she explained softly. 

Venom's black head pulled from Eddie's shoulder. **“We will never kill Eddie,”** it vowed. Yes, fantastic. Even if he did believe it, there were so many things that could kill him at that moment. 

**“Eddie. We will not let you die either. You die, I die.”** Doctor Skirth stood still and turned around, staring at the symbiote with her eyes wide and her mouth open. Eddie raised an eyebrow at that. 

“I have never been this close to a symbiote,” she muttered in awe. 

Eddie was really confused by her awe. “I have, and it sucks. I don't want it,” he hissed. 

**“You don't want to accept** ** _us,_** **Eddie. You're afraid.”** Nope, he was not doing this. Not in front of Doctor Skirth, not while being watched by three guards and possibly Drake if there were hidden cameras here. 

Doctor Skirth stepped closer to him and slipped a small chocolate bar into his hand. “Try to live with it, okay? I'm sorry for everything that happens here,” she said. 

He nodded. “It's not your fault,” he responded in the same soft tone. 

“If there's anything I could do within reason to help you…” she continued.

He blinked. Was she really that kind? Giving him food, offering to do something for him… “Could you find Anne Weying and tell her that there's a chance I won't return? She’s my fiance, I really love her. I miss her,” he murmured. He noticed that the symbiote curled around his heart, hiding in his ribcage. It could squeeze and kill him easily, but after all the promises that it wouldn't kill him, he doubted it would. 

“I can do that. I'm doing this because I feel bad, and my oldest was a big fan of yours,” she clarified quickly. 

He smiled. “Thank you.” He didn't ask her to elaborate on the use of ‘was’. It was very clear that he wouldn’t return, that everything he had was gone now. 

“There are no cameras and the cells are mostly sound isolated, Mr Drake was that kind at least,” she added. 

A bitter laugh left Eddie's lips. “Yeah, he kidnaps and murders and tortures people, but at least we get to keep our privacy. For the record, there's not much privacy with another entity in your body.” 

An apologetic look appeared on her face. “I'm so sorry, Eddie,” she muttered before ushering him into his cell and leaving him alone again. 

**_“What is that?”_ ** the symbiote asked him. A tendril crawled from his wrist to tap the small chocolate bar in his hand. 

_ “Chocolate,”  _ Eddie mentally responded as he quietly ate it.  _ “Better than eating humans, you know?”  _

**_“It's good.”_ **

Eddie grinned. It was. Doctor Skirth was a good person. His grin faded. He shouldn't have lashed out at her like that. She wasn't to blame for his current situation. It was his fault, really. He had gone too far, Drake had snapped. 

**_“You didn't know he would do this.”_ ** Why was the symbiote trying to comfort him? He was just its host, it was a parasite, why did it care so much? It probably didn't. 

**_“Not a parasite.”_ ** It still hated the word parasite. It offended it. Eddie wasn't sure why. The symbiotes latched onto their hosts, using them, just like parasites did. 

**_“Is that what you think? That I am using you?”_ ** it asked him softly. Or rather as soft as that loud voice inside his head could speak. 

**_“I heal your wounds, watch every movement outside the cell while you sleep. I protect you.”_ ** Eddie sank against the wall, eyes closed. 

“I know. I'm human though, it's in my nature to be scared by things that aren't from earth,” he admitted softly. The symbiote remained quiet. 

Eddie pushed into his own memories of happy times, finding memories of him and Anne being  _ happy,  _ laughing, kissing. She was fading. He wasn't sure what her voice was anymore, and what tone her eyes were. He couldn't feel or taste her lips on his as vividly as he used to. She was slipping from him, fading from memory. Pushing back further, he found himself struggling to recall how his friends looked. He wondered how Maria was doing, but how happy would she be whenever he gave her money again? What did she say whenever he teased her, what amount did she ask for the papers? 

His family was furthest. He could barely remember the faces of his parents beside the vaguest description of their skin tone and hair color. His sister was a blur. 

Everyone he loved was slipping away from him, like water running through his fingers. 

It felt worse than accepting he'd never see them again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Tumblr is @Unoriginal-fangirl43 so you can follow me there if you'd like I rant a lot about life but you can send me private messages with questions about my fic yeet


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hshhskdjd that romcom trailer got me back into the depths of the fandom help  
> But also this fic sucks imo idk why I'm posting but there are probably people who enjoy it and I don't want to hurt them because I'm a good person dammit

Another week passed before Doctor Skirth got back to him. Another week, filled with torture and suffering. Drake had added fire to the mix. Now they had a full symbiosis for sure, Drake had decided he wanted to know how long it took for a symbiote to separate from their host in danger. What their weaknesses did to the host's body. Turns out, it hurt. A lot. 

Eddie was never sure whether it was him or Venom thrashing his body whenever Drake got close with a fire or made them listen to high-pitched noises. 

“Hello, Eddie. I heard what he did to you, are you okay?” she asked quickly, looking him over. He was still weak and sore from the day before, but he got up off the floor without any complaints. 

“I'm fine,” he huffed, wrapping his arms around his chest where the weakened symbiote rested inside him. He still didn't like the creature, but he felt it when it got hurt, so he felt protective over it. “Did you find Annie?” 

“Oh! I did! She’s a good person. She worried about you a lot. She really loved you, didn't she?” Doctor Skirth said. 

“Yeah. I hope she'll be happy,” Eddie murmured, voice thin. He really loved her and now he wouldn't ever see her again. 

“If everything goes according to plan, you won't be here much longer,” she responded. 

Eddie froze. “What do you mean, Skirth?”

“Call me Dora. Drake gave me permission to have one-on-one tests with you. Maybe I can help you escape.” She smiled at him. 

Eddie shook his head in disbelief. “I thought I'd never get out,” he whispered. 

Dora led him through hallways into a small room. There was a table in the middle, with chairs on both sides. She pointed at a chair before seating herself opposite it. 

Eddie sat down. “Well?” he asked. The symbiote shifted under his skin, its attention finally caught as well. 

“Once Venom isn't as weak as they are right now, they give you superhuman abilities. Strength, speed, healing… Everything. If you can find your way out of here, you will be free,” she explained. Dora grabbed a map from her bag and unfolded it on the table. “Your cell is here,” she said, pointing at a relatively small square. “The exit is there,” she continued. She lifted her finger and placed it on another part of the map. “Get there, run into the woods and hide. They'll lose you, probably assume you died. It's common for those who fail as hosts to be taken over by the symbiote, showing insane and dangerous actions until the body is completely useless and the symbiote dies from the oxygen-rich environment.” 

Eddie stared at the map, trying helplessly to wrap his head around the plan. “You're asking me to trust it. Trust Venom,” he finally said. He turned his gaze to the scientist. “Trust this parasite with my entire body.  _ Willingly. _ ” 

“Well, yes. Without Venom, your chances of survival are very low if you attempt to escape,” Dora explained softly. 

Eddie shook his head. “I can't. It's unfamiliar, it's weird, I can't trust it.” 

Dora placed her hand on his arm. “Eddie. If they work out of pure self-interest, they won't let you die. You're the first host here that has been able to live longer than four days, the only current record of symbiosis. The chances of Venom surviving outside of you for an extended period of time without returning to their home is second to none. They won't let you get killed.” 

**_“See? She understands, why can’t you?”_ ** Venom asked, not leaving its spot within his ribcage. 

“I can't trust it, Dora. I've known it for two weeks and it still terrifies me if I think about it for too long.” 

“You shouldn't think. Anything is scary if you think too much. In this situation, it's better to feel,” Dora told him. “They will protect you. You're too precious to be careless with.” 

He could sense the symbiote's agreement, its soft, appreciative humming sending pleasant vibrations through his chest. 

“Fine. I'll try,” he declared finally. “What's the best route?” 

Dora placed her finger on the spot of his cell again. “We're on the ground floor. This route has the least guards, especially at night. I can get you out in the evening and lead you until this room, which is positioned here.” She tapped a different square on the map. “We go inside, you knock me out and run. Don't kill if you can help it. If everyone you see is dead except for me there's a chance they'll come after me,” she instructed them. 

Eddie nodded. “And the forest is right outside?” 

“Yes,” Dora answered with a curt nod. 

Eddie fell quiet for a moment. Venom hadn't hurt him so far, and what would he rather have? The possibility that the symbiote in him killed him, or being stuck in a cell for the rest of his life? Maybe living with Venom wouldn't be that bad. 

**“Even in this state, I am more powerful than humans, don't underestimate me,”** Venom said, its black head materializing from Eddie's arm. 

“I'll come to get you next week, alright?” Dora asked, ignoring the symbiote. 

“Yeah.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter sucks imo but what else is new
> 
> On another note, I finally watched the DP movies. I'm writing a Christmas Poolossus bc other writers here are freakin cowards hskdjdks i dont mean that dont kill me

The week passed with surprisingly little torture. They rested most of the time, Eddie didn't even react to Venom eating humans. They needed all the strength they could have if they wanted to leave this place with minimal damage. 

Dora led them to the room, surprisingly calm for someone on the brink of possibly losing their job. 

“Okay. Please be careful,” she asked softly. 

Eddie nodded. 

Venom took over, punched Dora and  _ ran.  _

Eddie had never felt this free. Running through the white hallways of the Life Foundation, kicking and punching guards that attempted to stop them. It was like no one could stop them. 

Venom grinned, surprisingly fast for such a big figure. Tendrils reached forward and wrapped around the guards’ throats, choking them until they fell unconscious as they basically flew by. It was amazing. 

A shrill alarm rang through the halls right when the exit appeared in their shared sight. Eddie could feel the symbiote squirming around him, trying to get away from the noise yet unable to move their body. 

He could feel Venom reluctantly retracting into his body.  **_“Eddie, I'm sorry,”_ ** they said, curling up around his heart again as small as they could. 

“Ssh, it's not your fault,” he muttered, feeling the effect the noise had on the symbiote. Was he seriously comforting the creature now? 

The remaining guards closed in on the two of them, who were now laying on the ground. Eddie felt soft pants pass his lips, struggling to keep Venom with him. Drake led the guards, a smug look on his face while the lead guard dragged Dora along by her hair. 

“You know what? I trusted Doctor Skirth,” Drake said, stepping forward toward the squirming man. “I never once thought she would betray me. And yet, here we are. I thought you hated the symbiote, Brock?” he continued. He leaned forward, a smirk on his lips. 

“Anything is better than staying one more goddamn minute in that cell,” Eddie spat, glaring at the man who started this. 

Drake laughed. “You wish I'd let you stay in that cell once I'm done with you,” he told Eddie. 

“And you'll wish you had let us escape.” It was his first time saying ‘us’ and it felt right. It wasn’t like he could focus on that when he just couldn't  _ end  _ the  _ suffering  _ they went through because of the noise that hadn't been stopped. 

Drake raised his eyebrow, not at all discouraged from Eddie’s probably empty threat. “Get them back to their cell and turn off that damn noise,” he snapped a the nearest guard. “Doctor Skirth, please follow me.” 

Oh god, Dora. Drake would kill her, and what of her kids? She was a single mother. He wished he could call Anne now, plead to her so she would watch over the process of the children receiving a new home. Make sure they would end up in a good home. 

Guards grabbed his arms and restrained him, Eddie let them. He was too tired of struggling, of fighting the noise, of protecting the symbiote. 

**_“Why did you?”_ ** Venom asked him slowly, curled loosely around his heart. 

Eddie kept his gaze on the floor so it didn't look like he was talking to someone while his face contorted in confusion. _ “I guess I'd rather stick with you than another symbiote. At least I know you.”  _

**_“Oh? Are you actually enjoying my presence now?”_ ** Venom asked. 

_ “I still don't enjoy you controlling my body. I just prefer it over another,”  _ Eddie corrected them. The creature chuckled. It was probably the nicest thing he’d said to them, all things considered. 

The guards dragged them to their cell and dropped them. 

Eddie groaned. They had failed. Dora had been caught, he was back in the cell. It hurt. They had gotten so close. So close to leaving, so close to being  _ free. _

Yet here they were, back in their cell, with no hope for the future. 

 

Dora was terrified as Carlton Drake led her through the halls of the Life Foundation. If he was hurt, he wasn't showing. He carried himself with confidence, with pride. It was like nothing could ever hurt him.

“Doctor Skirth, I assume you know how I feel about your actions?” he asked, relatively calm. He was unreadable, and Dora hated it. 

She nodded. “I'm so sorry, I just felt really bad for him,” she whispered. Fear seeped through her tone, but she knew he was already aware. 

“Oh, you made that very clear. Eddie Brock is an important asset in our research, you know? He is the only one who successfully achieved symbiosis. If we want to know the full range of a symbiote's powers, we will have to hurt him.” Drake turned around to face her. His lips were downturned, he appeared to be frowning. She never knew with Drake. 

“You already knew the abilities of a symbiote. You just wanted to hurt him for coming so close,” she said softly, lowering her gaze to the clean white floor. 

He tensed. She could see it in his legs, in his hands that curled into fists and loosened again. “What makes you think that?” he asked. 

“You haven't hurt any other  _ volunteers.”  _ She was probably already about to die. She had known the dangers of helping Eddie, yet now it was real and terrifying. Her reckless words passed her lips with no more care. Damn it all, if she went down, she'd go down speaking the truth. 

“I want to forgive you for your stunt just now, Doctor Skirth, I really do,” Drake told her. She could hear the false gentle voice he spoke with. His beautiful lies. Maybe somewhere was the man who told her they could cure cancer. Maybe that man had been a facade all along. 

She laughed softly, bitterly. “You don't. I know you don't.” She felt so angry, so horrible. She would miss her children. “Were you ever kind?” she whispered. She looked up. 

His face betrayed nothing. “Maybe,” he said. “You were the smartest doctor. Farewell, Dora.” 

She only noticed he had moved her into a cell once he closed the door behind him. She bit her lip, trembled. The previous vagrants had been hurt so bad by these experiments. She had assumed he would just shoot her. 

She turned to face the symbiote moving toward her. Eddie had survived, maybe she would too… She didn't think she would. She wasn't like Eddie and Venom. They were one of a kind, they were special. Eddie just had to realize that a human was strongest when in sync with their symbiote. 

Dora accepted her fate in silence, not giving Drake the pleading he wished for. 

Her last thought was about her kids and how much she loved them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did i mention how quick shed die because she died hella quick and this is what happens when you write a fic without knowing a lot yikes
> 
> I was tempted to let her survive but this is supposed to be an exact adaptation except Eddie gets thrown in a cell & Symbrock so


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate myself :)

When a different scientist came to pick Eddie up the day after, he knew that Dora Skirth was dead. He could feel his own sadness, but also the symbiote's sadness. She had been good to them. She had children, what would happen to them? Was their other parent still alive? 

They did their usual weekly tests. They locked him in, and Eddie faintly wondered if this was where she'd died. 

**_“We miss her. She was good. She gave us chocolate,”_ ** the symbiote murmured in his mind. Eddie swallowed.

“I guess we do.” A soft smile crept to his face, but his expression didn't match the look. “She was nice.” 

The symbiote spread through his body, warming him, almost making him feel like he was being hugged.  **_“You're blaming yourself,”_ ** they observed. 

Eddie wiped a tear from his eye. “If I hadn't come here, she wouldn't have tried to help me. She wouldn't have  _ died,  _ Ven.” 

**_“If you hadn't come here, I would have continued to kill people by not being compatible with their bodies. If they hadn't found the rocket with us, none of this would have happened. In the end, everything that happens here is Carlton Drake's fault,”_ ** the symbiote explained, returning to his heart. A tendril stroked his shoulder under the white shirt he had to wear here.  **_“Dora's death isn't your fault.”_ **

Eddie finds himself welcoming the affectionate touches. Dora had been the one to tell him to trust Venom. He wasn't sure he was capable of doing that, but at least he could try. “Because I wanted to return so badly, I took her up on the offer. If I hadn't…”

**_“Stop, Eddie. It was her choice to help you. She knew the risks.”_ ** Venom's deep voice was oddly comforting. They didn't lie. They couldn't, not to him. 

They were moved to a different room and tied to a chair, before Drake entered the room. Eddie glared at him but didn't say anything. 

“Well, Eddie? What was your plan?” Drake asked. 

Venom squirmed around in his chest. “Our plan was to escape. How did you figure out Dora had helped us?” Eddie shot back. 

“Doctor Skirth had taken you apart, with no guards or cameras. There weren’t any signs of struggle within your cell, meaning you hadn't escaped from there. It looked like you knew where you were going, judging from the unconscious men you left in your wake. Need I continue?” Drake smirked at them. His teeth were perfectly white. He showed no signs of distress, nothing that pointed at regret for Dora's death. 

“Dora didn't deserve to die,” Eddie said, his voice thin. 

“I had hoped this wouldn't have had to happen either, but I can't afford your escape. It would be too dangerous,” Drake explained. He paced around the room a bit. He didn't even glance at them. 

Eddie frowned. “I attempt to escape, so you kill her?” he hissed between gritted teeth. He wasn't sure if he could hate Drake more than he did now. 

“She helped you. In all fairness, it could have been that she didn't die. You didn't die,” Drake pointed out. He was so cold, so distant, like he didn't know how to love. 

“She had kids,” Eddie continued in disbelief. “A family. A life. What will happen to them?” 

“I will make sure her children get the best care,” Drake assured him. He didn't seem to be lying, but Eddie knew not to trust anyone by their word. 

“Why did you bring me here?” he finally asked. They could've talked in his cell just as easily, with strong glass between them. 

“It's feeding time. I had to be nearby, so I let you be brought here already.” A smirk turned Drake's lips up. “It is also the room where she died.” 

Eddie froze. He could almost see her lifeless body on the floor, a symbiote crawling out of her. He could see her face, twisted in agony. 

“You’re a murderer, and when I get out of here, you  _ will  _ be punished for your crimes,” he snarled, thrashing against the binds that kept him tied to his chair. 

Drake chuckled at his threat. “You have no proof, and you won't get out. I made sure of that.” With that, he left. 

 

A growl passed Eddie's lips and he wasn't sure whether it was him or the symbiote who made the noise. They both hated Drake, more than the symbiote still terrified Eddie sometimes. 

The guards threw in their  _ dinner  _ and cut them loose, before running away. 

It was a woman who appeared to be in her mid-thirties, with long dark hair. Wait. Eddie narrowed his eyes. 

“Maria?” he asked, standing up. He could sense the mental question mark that the symbiote sent him, alien curiosity coursing through him. 

The woman sat up, her gaze catching Eddie's. “Oh. Hi Eddie,” she said, sheepishly, though her fear was easily noticeable. The Life Foundation's hidden lab was a scary place for figures like them. Those who had been captured by Drake.

“Holy shit. How have you been?” he asked, a weak attempt at normal conversation in their current situation. 

Maria shook her head. “Since you disappeared, I stopped making most of my money. Not many people are willing to pay money for a free paper,” she admitted with a chuckle and a shrug. 

Eddie frowned. “Drake captured me. I'm going to get out of here, okay? We'll both get out. The money I will get from this will be shared between us both, okay?” he asked. 

**_“Eddie. Food,”_** Venom nagged at the back of his mind. 

He frowned. “No. She's my friend.” He was not about to let the symbiote eat his friend. They were finally getting along, was the symbiote really willing to ruin the fragile bond they had?

**_“Eddie, we'll go insane if we don't eat her. If we don't eat her today, she will be thrown on our plate tomorrow. Until we eat her out of sheer hunger and madness.”_ **

Eddie clenched his fists and shook his head, stepping away from his friend.

“Eddie, are you okay?” Maria asked him softly. It was so like her. Asking him if he was okay, even though she was the homeless one. 

“She doesn't deserve to die, Venom!” Eddie cried out. He just wanted to rip the symbiote off of his body, pull them away from his intestines. How could he have ever gotten along with this man-eating monster? 

**_“We have to.”_ ** He could feel the warm sensation of Venom taking over his body, wrapping him in the black goo of their body. 

_ “Don't you dare,”  _ Eddie thought. He could see Maria trembling. His body wasn't his, he wasn't in control anymore. Venom would kill Maria and it would be his fault because he couldn't keep her safe. 

**_“Eddie.”_ ** Venom seemed oddly hesitant.  **_“If we eat her now, she will suffer the least pain of any death she'll have here. Please.”_ **

Eddie knew it was the truth. Chances were that Maria could be used in a symbiote test, and he knew from what Venom showed him that dying from a symbiote was unpleasant to say the least.  _ “She's my friend,”  _ he protested. 

**_“Then close your eyes.”_ ** Eddie really didn't understand what the symbiote was doing. 

He sighed.  _ “Quick and as painless as possible, okay?”  _ he asked. Even in his thoughts he sounded terrified of eating his friend. 

Venom nodded.  **_“Of course, Eddie.”_ **

Eddie closed his eyes, one of few things he could do within the symbiote. He tried to think of Anne, of fun times, of home. He could feel Venom opening their mouth, hear Maria's scared voice which he desperately tried to drown out. 

**_“It's over,”_ ** their deep voice spoke in his head. Venom slowly retracted back into Eddie's skin. Barely a spot of Maria's blood had been spilled, but his friend was obviously gone. 

“She didn't deserve it,” he just said, staring at the ground. 

Venom took their favourite spot in his chest.  **_“Did you deserve it, Eddie?”_ ** they asked. 

Eddie wasn’t sure how to respond. A part of him did feel like he deserved this, the pain he endured here. He knew what Anne would say if she caught him thinking like that. It happened to him, but he was partially to blame. “I don't know, buddy,” he said. 

**_“Those who deserve it don't think they deserve it. You're good. You just did your job,”_ ** Venom reassured him. 

Eddie released a bitter laugh. “If you know so well, why ask?” 

**_“I wanted to hear you say it.”_ **

Eddie kept his mouth shut. He wasn't sure what the symbiote was saying. What did Venom mean? Nothing ever made sense with them around. Everything in the facility was different. He missed his old life, more with each passing day. He wasn't sure how long he'd been here. He didn't know what date it was, what time of day. Time didn't exist here.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes this chapter is late as hecc my life is shit & im currently at chapter 12 hellp

Time passed. Eddie was very aware of  _ that.  _ Every day he spent here, getting experimented on, passed outside as well. Had he been declared dead yet?

**_“Why are you sad?”_ ** Venom asked, deep voice echoing through his mind and breaking through the depressing thoughts. 

Eddie swallowed. “Bad thoughts. Every moment I spend locked up in here is another moment passing outside. The world is moving on without me. I guess I'm just lonely,” he murmured. 

Warmth spread through his body as the symbiote stretched through his limbs.  **_“You're not alone, Eddie,”_ ** they said. 

Eddie laughed softly. “I know, Buddy. But I had friends there. A fiance. And then I fucked up.” 

Venom’s head left his skin.  **“We will get out of here.”**

Eddie stared at them, feeling so unbelievably cold and yet warm. “Will we really?” he asked. He wasn’t counting on it. Drake had alarms everywhere. One press of a button and the symbiote would be hurt. 

**“Yes.”** Venom sounded resolute. Unlike Eddie, they hadn't given up. They were willing to suffer if it meant they would get out of here safely. 

Eddie lifted his hand and placed it on Venom. The substance they consisted of was soft, like sturdy slime. It was a nice texture. Surprising even himself, he started patting the symbiote. Gently stroking over the inky black that was outside of his body. “I think Anne would like you,” he murmured, closing his eyes. 

He could sense Venom's surprise. 

“After getting over the shock of you being an alien that likes to eat humans, at least,” Eddie added with a chuckle. 

Venom  _ huffed.  _ There was no breath that left their lips, but the motion and noise were identical to a huff.

“She's a good person.” Even if her memory was fading, Eddie could remember how amazing she was. Even when he was a mess, she was there, keeping him steady. She'd put up with his arrogance, his tendency to get into bad situations. He wanted to know how she was doing so badly, but he couldn't. 

**“You miss her a lot,”** Venom observed. Their tendrils curled around Eddie's torso in a warm embrace  and Eddie let them. 

He nodded. “I love her. Loved. I don't know.” He reopened his eyes and looked at the symbiote. 

A purr escaped Venom before they could stop themselves, which granted them another amused noise from their host.  **“She sounds good.”**

“Yeah.” Eddie found himself growing tired, eyelids drooping. He lowered his arm. “She is.” 

Anne was amazing, she really was.

But he dreamt of Venom.

 

He was woken by a scientist, an unfamiliar one. Her expression didn't reveal anything about how she felt, unlike Drake and Skirth. 

She led them down a familiar path, one to a less harmful room. It was just a scan. Eddie didn't mind the scans. 

Venom was calm, nestled under Eddie's skin. It was almost a comforting presence. Knowing he wasn't alone was comforting. Even if the only one with him was an alien from outer space. 

The scientist didn't speak. She didn't have to. Eddie knew what happened here. It was routine. He wasn't sure how often, with the lack of time in the facility, but it happened every so often that a scientist took him here. Usually, Drake left them alone on those days. 

He knew Drake would come pick them up the next day, and yet still he found himself seeking comfort in the ease of the day. No Venom rushing through his veins in panic, no ragged breaths as pain stabbed through his limbs. 

Gentle tendrils were wrapped around his wrist like a black bracelet. Venom didn't let go, and Eddie let them hold on. 

**_“We have to strike when they expect us to do so the least,”_ ** Venom told him. Eddie sighed, glancing at the scientists. 

_ “What if they catch us? They'll hurt you,”  _ he responded gently. The worry in his mental voice almost reminded him of how Anne sounded whenever he planned something stupid, but it couldn't be the same.

Venom's light amusement echoed around his mind.  **_“Not if we kill Drake first,”_ ** they answered. 

Eddie wasn't sure how he should react. It was far from an airtight plan.  _ “How are you planning to do that?” _ he asked eventually, as the scientist led them back to their cell. 

**_“We'll do what they want us to do. Pretend like they've broken us, Eddie. Then, in the end, we can jump Drake from behind and kill him,”_ ** Venom answered. It could work. If Drake was stupid.

It could work.

_ “That's going to take so long, though.”  _

**_“We don't have a better plan, Eddie.”_ **


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year, guys!!!   
> It's like 25 minutes left in 2018 but idc  
> Start your 2019 good with a more fluffy chapter hsjsjsjs

So, that's what they did. For months, they did as they were told. Eddie didn't respond to Drake's taunts, opting to remain silent throughout the torture. Drake noticed the change but didn't mention it. 

The aftershocks of pain still pushed through his body. Venom healed his wounds, but his pain receptors lagged behind. Tampering with pain receptors was something dangerous Venom didn't do. 

Venom nudged his shoulder.  **“Eddie. Eddie, talk to me,”** they pleaded. 

Eddie's gaze, which had been distant, turned to his symbiote buddy immediately. “I'm fine, V,” he murmured, lifting a sore arm to softly stroke the inky blackness Venom consisted of. 

Black tendrils curled around his torso, a few coming up to stroke Eddie's cheek in return.

Eddie chuckled softly, but he didn't move away from the odd touch. Venom purred, the noise no longer foreign. 

“We're okay,” Eddie whispered, swallowing. Venom grinned at him.

**“Of course we are.”**

Eddie was aware of how his dreams of Anne hadn't shown up in weeks. He knew of the dreams he had of the symbiote, holding him, touching him. He was probably going insane. Yet… 

**“I know of your dreams. We're one, Eddie. I know everything,”** Venom said. Black tendrils entwined with Eddie's fingers; he let them. 

“Why didn't you say something about it?” Eddie asked, giving the symbiote a look. 

They both leaned forward, staring in silence. 

The door opened again. Venom slipped back under his skin, and Eddie could sense both of their discomfort. What were they about to do? Kiss? Ha, that would be so  _ weird.  _ Why would  _ he,  _ a human, kiss Venom? Not that it would feel bad. Maybe it would be good. Who knew what that tongue could do? 

**_“Anything you'd like,”_ ** Venom told him, discomfort fading into teasing. Eddie nearly choked on his spit as they followed the scientist through the halls. 

The scientist shot him an odd look, which only embarrassed him more.  _ “Asshole,”  _ he spat mentally. 

He could  _ feel  _ the symbiote grin.  **_“That too.”_ **

He really wished he could just enter the ground and disappear after that exchange.  _ “The scientists hate me enough me already, they don't have to think I’m insane.”  _

**_“You talk to me in a way someone who hears voices would talk, Eddie. Get used to it,”_ ** Venom responded. 

_ “I've been here for half a year, Ven, I don't think I'll ever get used to it.”  _

**_“The first time you saw me you tried to get as far away as possible. You have grown.”_ **

_ “There was a black blob with teeth that entered my skin without any warning, I had the right to be terrified of you,”  _ Eddie defended himself. 

Venom laughed, a pleasant sensation within Eddie's chest.  **_“I'm the least scary of my kind,”_ ** he laughed. 

Eddie huffed.  _ “I'd love to not meet your family.”  _

**_“Once we get out, we should just build a life. No other symbiotes. No experiments. Just us. And your human friends, if you want,”_ ** V said. They sounded a little embarrassed by it, the way they spoke as though seeking approval. 

Eddie smiled.  _ “That would be nice.”  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's shorter but it's happy & soft so here :)  
> I love you guys so muvh and I wish you a happy 2019 <3


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea what im doing okay

The scientist led them back to their cell.  

She locked them in and sped away.

**“Do you think she's more scared of me, or if she just thinks insanity is contagious?”** Venom asked, lifting their head from Eddie's skin. 

“Wouldn't it be logical for me to have gone insane now?” Eddie asked. He sat down on the cold floor. “Torture, no humans willing to be nice to me… I just want to get out as soon as possible.” 

And he really did. The place, though more bearable now he wasn't as terrified of V as he had been, wasn't comfortable. Sure, he had a small bathroom with privacy so he could go to the toilet in peace, but there was no bed. He had a shower, though it didn't work for long when he used it. He got clean clothes every so often, hospital gowns. They even let him shave, just under close watch. He had been good. There had been rewards.

Venom damn near pouted.  **“I'm not human, but I am nice to you. You can talk to me,”** they stated, black tendrils weaving through his fingers. 

Eddie sighed. “Yeah. Thanks, V.” Even if he had been terrified at first, now he was glad that the symbiote was there with him. Someone to talk to, someone to make sure he didn’t go insane. Not that it felt like he wasn’t insane. He was talking to a symbiote inhabiting his body. A creature from a planet that wasn’t Earth, a powerful alien that could rip him apart in seconds if they wanted to. 

If they’d wanted to kill him, he would’ve been long dead. He trusted Venom, even just cautiously for now. He didn’t know what repercussions there were to having the symbiote in him. He didn’t know what they did to his body. All other hosts in the facility would die within a few days, but no one had explained to Eddie why they died so quickly. But they’d lived. 6 months of torture and pain and having Venom with him, and yet he had survived. He didn’t know why or how. He was a good host, Venom had told him. 

**“It’s not you or me, Eddie, it’s us. We survive. We get out,”** the symbiote said. Eddie leaned against the wall, his eyes cast to the ceiling above them. 

“I know, V. We’re gonna live. We’ll do whatever we want,” he said softly. He looked at the symbiote, the floating head that was connected to his skin. The empty eyes that still seemed to convey emotion. The mouth, hiding a large, toothy grin and a long tongue. Venom grinned at him.

Those teeth hadn’t scared Eddie in a few months.  

If they were to fuck, would it be considered masturbation?

How far did the “we’re one” thing go?

**“It’s still we. Plural. Separate entities sharing a body. We do everything together. That’s why there’s no you or me.”** Venom reading his mind when he had thoughts like that was probably the worst thing about sharing his body with the symbiote.  **“So, no, it’s not masturbation. Or narcissism.”**

“Thanks, buddy,” Eddie said drily. Venom  _ winked. _

**“I aim to please.”**

“I can't believe I'm having this conversation with a human-eating alien,” Eddie muttered.  _ “My dreams are lies. You're cool and all, but I should not want to have sex with you. It's probably because I haven't had any contact with other human for months.”  _

**“Eddie. Don’t lie to yourself, that's unhealthy,”** the symbiote said. 

“I care about you, but it's not  _ natural _ ,” he insisted. 

Venom rested their head on his shoulder.  **“Everything about this is unnatural. Or are humans supposed to be locked up in a cage underground? Be experimented upon?”**

Eddie sighed. He tugged his knees to his chest and leaned his forehead on them. “I don't know what to do, okay? In the past 7 months, people have died because of me, I've been closer to death than ever before, I've been tortured, shot, stabbed, cut and I don't know what to do…” 

Black goo curled in tendrils around his shivering body, embracing him.  **“This isn't your fault, Eddie,”** Venom said, running another tendril over Eddie's head. 

“I fucked up, though.” 

**“Thinking of what you did in the past does not change our current situation.”**

_ “I don't know how long I will be able to hold out, V,”  _ Eddie said in their shared mind. He just didn't want to open his mouth anymore. He didn't have the energy to speak. He wanted to go outside. He wanted to find a comfortable bed and lie down and sleep. 

**“Soon, Eddie. Soon we will be outside.** **_Soon,”_ ** Venom insisted, nuzzling their host's cheek. Eddie lifted his hand and placed it on the symbiote's head.

_ “Soon.”  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly i wanted them to fuck in the facility but i havent even made them kiss


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im moving too fast but this is my first multichap ship fic so go easy on me :))

They had to do this. It was then or never, they'd decided. Drake hadn't shown his face during the experiments for over a week, but now he was back. A business trip, he'd said.

They were tied to a chair as usual, a rope around Eddie's waist and around his wrists which were pulled behind the chair. 

Venom's head was gnawing on the rope as Eddie held their captor busy. “Where did you go?” Eddie asked. 

Drake looked down on him, appearing amused. “Why should you care?” he asked in response. 

Eddie felt the rope around his wrists break and he caught it in his hands. Venom moved on to the one around their waist. “I'm just curious,” Eddie said. 

“I went to New York.” The Life Foundation held the world in an iron grip. Eddie had honestly never expected Drake to have to go on business trips if he basically ruled the world. 

“I used to live in New York,” he said with a hint of sentimentality. He'd been kicked out of New York, so he'd gone to San Francisco. 

“Hmm…” 

The rope slipped and Venom engulfed Eddie. Before Drake's brain could even catch up to what was happening, he already had a broken piece of wood from the chair in his abdomen. His mouth fell open, his eyes wide. 

He fell. Eddie managed to pocket the rich man's phone.

Venom didn't waste another second. They were pretty sure Drake had the only trigger to the alarm, because he didn't trust the scientists and guards. His arrogance was his downfall. They ran out of the room. Any guard who dared to stand in their path had their heads bitten off. They ran down long hallways, the most free the symbiote had ever been. 

They managed to find a back exit and  _ escaped.  _ They ran into the woods behind the large building, Venom retracting from Eddie's face to give him a breath of fresh air after over half a year. 

Eddie inhaled. He was exhausted and his muscles hurt, but he was  _ outside.  _ They were outside.

It was evening, he noticed. It wasn't completely dark, but the sun didn't blind him when he looked up into the sky. 

Venom reformed into a hoodie, pants and shoes for Eddie. They lifted a tendril with Drake's phone.  **“Does Anne still have the same number?”** they asked. 

Eddie took the phone and opened it. No password. Damn, Drake  _ was  _ arrogant. He quickly typed in Anne's number and called. 

“Who is this?” she answered, sounding suspicious. 

Eddie sighed in relief. He absently ran his fingers over the part of Venom that hung outside his body.

“It's me,” he said. 

“Eddie?!” She gasped. 

Eddie inclined his head. “Carlton Drake kidnapped me, Annie. I'm in the forest behind the Life Foundation. Can you pick me up?” he asked. He bit his cheek as she was silent for a moment.

“Of course,” she then said. Even if she'd moved on, she still had his back. 

“Thank you,” he breathed. She closed the conversation. 

**“She sounds nice,”** Venom stated. 

Eddie smiled. “She's amazing.”

Venom nuzzled his cheek.  **“You're amazing,”** they muttered. It made Eddie's heart skip a beat. 

“I'm really not, but alright.” 

 

Riot carefully manoeuvred the little girl he controlled into the facility. Venom, that  _ imbecile,  _ had left a mess that made it easy for him to wander inside. He merely had to follow the trail of bodies his subordinate had left. He did feel disappointed. Venom was the first to find a good host, to use it for something so weak as love… Despicable.

He could smell the dying. He picked up Drake’s wrist with the young girl's hand. The man was  _ alive.  _ Riot had to admit, Drake could put up a fight. He could prove to be useful.

He pushed himself into the dying man's body, healing his injury and taking the wood from his abdomen.  **“** _ Carlton Drake, _ _ ”  _ his deep voice echoed through the billionaire's head.  _ “ _ _ Wake up. _ ” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What you actually thought im gonna make the second act of this story easy on our boys? Why should i do that?


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I read every single comment. I'm loving all the positive feedback. Thank you all so muchhh  
> Secondly I've been binging Supernatural & writing oneshots for it so I honestly struggled to finish this chapter??? Wtf???? Castiel is distracting me okay & i was planning on finishing & uploading yesterday but then Gabriel got stabbed & i was too emotional to write this im obsessed help  
> Im only at the end of s5 so :)))

Eddie walked to the edge of the forest. It wasn't a very big forest and there was a parking area nearby. He already saw Anne's car there. He stumbled his way to her, exhaustion taking him now the adrenaline had faded.

Their eyes met and she cautiously smiled. He entered and sat in the passenger seat with a sigh. “Hey,” he said. “You don't understand how happy I am to see you.”

“I thought you were dead,” Anne said as she started the car. She glanced at him. “You've been gone for seven months, Eddie.”

Eddie honestly just wanted to curl up on a comfortable surface and sleep, but he knew he had to explain to her. She deserved an explanation as to why her boyfriend had suddenly disappeared. “Drake, he… he kidnapped me. I asked the wrong questions, so he locked me up in a cell and experimented on me. It was… It was horrible, Annie.”

She visibly swallowed. “I have another boyfriend now. Are you sure you don’t want me to bring you to a shelter or a friend’s or something? He’s home right now, and I don’t want to pressure you into staying in the same house as him.”

Eddie’s lip twitched. “What’s his name? Job? Is he good for you?” he asked.

Anne smiled gently, she looked so happy thinking of this man. “His name is Dan Lewis, he’s a doctor, and he’s amazing. I love him.”

“If he’s so good, what do I have to complain about?” Eddie said. He ran his fingers over the black substance over his arm, hearing the symbiote purr in his mind. “I accepted you moving on months ago. I didn’t think I’d escape either.”

Anne placed one hand on his knee and patted it lightly. “I know you probably don't want to talk about what happened, but I would appreciate it if you told me even a little bit.”

“I'll show you when we arrive,” Eddie said, not ceasing his running fingers. Anne didn’t continue asking. Clearly she understood. At least, she thought she did. Eddie just didn’t want to show his other to their driver. Venom understood that. Venom remained his clothes, wrapped silently around their host. It was a little affectionate. Intimate. Humans could never get the level of intimacy as they had. They could hear each other’s thoughts.

“Did he hurt you?” Anne asked eventually. She shot him another side-eyed glance, worry etched onto her face.

Eddie turned to the window and sighed. “Yeah.”

The rest of the ride was in silence. Anne didn’t bother asking anymore questions, and Eddie didn’t share any information on his captivity either. It was quiet but not uncomfortable. They liked being away from the screaming people, from the whimpers that came from those who suffered under Drake’s control. The billionaire was dead, those people could be freed. If there were still some alive, that was.

They went to Anne’s apartment, which was in the same location as it used to be. It even appeared the same from outside. Eddie was a little nervous. He didn’t want to be the invasive ex in Anne’s situation. She had said her boyfriend was a doctor though, so maybe he could figure out what the hell actually happened to everyone who died in Drake’s facility. Maybe he could figure out what the actual shit Venom’s presence did to his body.

**_“I won’t hurt you, Eddie.”_ **

_“I know, V. It never hurts to be cautious though.”_

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Anne asked with a little laugh. “Dan isn't gonna bite you.”

Eddie sensed the amusement from Venom. **_“Maybe we'll bite him,”_ ** they said.

Eddie just rolled his eyes. _“No, we are not going to bite him. Or eat him. We're a normal, civilized person right now,”_ he insisted.

They followed Anne into her apartment. She pointed at the sofa and Eddie sat down.

He'd missed this. A soft sofa to sit on. Warmth. Color. People who weren't either experimenting on him or their dinner. Normal human life.

Just now with a symbiote constantly talking in his mind.

 **“** **_That hurts, Eddie,”_ ** Venom said.

Eddie couldn't help but smile. _“Stop complaining, V.”_

Anne walked away and returned with her new boyfriend. He was handsome. He appeared to be a nice guy, too. She really hit the jackpot with Dan, didn't she? “Eddie, this is Dan Lewis. Dan, this is my ex, Eddie Brock.”

“Nice to meet you,” Eddie said as he took Dan's outstretched hand. Dan nodded.

Anne watched their interaction. Dan didn't seem uncomfortable with getting to know his girlfriend's ex. “So, Eddie, do you want to tell us what happened? You can trust Dan,” Anne said gently as she sat down next to him. She placed a hand on his knee.

“When I was kidnapped by Drake, he put a creature in me. A symbiote. A parasitic alien, basically.” Venom growled in his head, making Eddie chuckle a bit. “For months, he tortured me to see how much power the creature has. They healed me, they protected me. But Drake always found a new way to hurt me. It was hell. The creature, though, Venom, they kept me sane. They're not a bad guy, so I took them with me. Say hi, V.”

Venom moved his head from the black mass that Eddie was dressed in. Eddie ran his fingers over his sleeve.

Anne and Dan just stood quietly, staring at the floating head that was connected to Eddie. “Doesn't it hurt?” Anne asked finally, glancing back at her ex.

Eddie lifted his hand and patted Venom's head. “No. They're just there. Another presence in my body. Consenting half possession, or something like that,” he said. “They are my clothes right now. Under this I'm just wearing a hospital gown.”

“It's not dangerous or anything, right?” Dan asked.

“They eat people and chocolate. I don't know how dangerous it is for me, they never told me,” Eddie answered.

 **“Not dangerous to Eddie,”** Venom growled, glaring at the doctor who asked.

“I'm telling you this because I trust Anne, okay? A lot of what happened in _there_ is related to V. You always told me I bottle up my feelings and that I should talk to people. This is me talking to a person. Please, Annie,” Eddie said, stepping toward his ex.

Anne sighed. “At least let Dan do a scan of how much it-they're integrated into your body. Please. We need a more scientific view on this,” she insisted.

Eddie hated how he could never resist that look of hers. “Yeah. Just don't hurt them.”

Dan looked between Eddie and Anne before he nodded tightly. “I'll go start the car,” he stated before he rushed off.

Anne stepped forward and hugged Eddie. Eddie hugged her back, a little dazed. “I'm glad you're back, you know,” Anne muttered to him.

A smile tugged at Eddie's lips. “Me too.”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing angst back in after 3(?) chapters of mostly fluff is hard okay

The car ride to the hospital was relatively quiet. Anne and Dan talked a bit. Dan explained to Eddie that he really just wanted to do a quick scan, that it would be painless.

Eddie didn't really trust him, but he couldn't be bad if Anne had deemed him worthy. Especially after the disaster he had been, she'd probably be more careful. Dan really seemed like a great guy.

_ “They're not going to hurt us, V. They promised,”  _ Eddie insisted as the hospital came into sight. It didn't take long until they were out of the car, walking into the building. Venom tightened their grip on his body. It was invisible to others, but Eddie could feel it. “ _ They're not Drake. They don't want to hurt us. Calm down.”  _

**_“We don't trust humans, Eddie,”_ ** they said. 

Eddie rubbed his thumb over his sleeve.  _ “We can trust Annie.”  _

**_“We said no more experiments! Eddie!”_ ** the symbiote continued, their voice loud in his head.

Eddie wanted nothing more than to gather the black creature in his arms, hug them and tell them everything would be fine. He wanted to move far away from the city, far from the people and the sounds and lights. 

_ “This isn't an experiment.” _

**_“I will never hurt us, so why do we have to do a scan?!”_ **

Eddie felt ready to cry.  _ “Hey. Hey, Love, listen to me. I know you won't hurt us. This is just so Annie will believe that too, okay? It's kind of hard to survive if you have nobody to confide in, all right? No human, at least.”  _ He glanced around, before he lifted his arm and pressed a soft kiss to his sleeve.  _ “I won't let us get hurt so badly again,”  _ he promised. 

Dan led them down a few halls. They entered a room at the end of one, with a glass wall and some pretty photographs on the back wall. “Okay, you just lie down over there and I'll start the scan when you're ready.” 

Eddie did as he was told. Venom retracted into his skin, burying themself into his body and curling loosely around his heart. 

It was torture. He heard the high tone and froze, even though his body lay squirming through Venom's control. 

He saw Drake's smirk as the billionaire loomed over him. He saw Dora, her terrified face before she was taken away. 

The machine turned off. Eddie was shaking, short pants leaving his mouth. “I'm sorry, V,” he whispered. He knew Venom listened. They always did.

Anne sped into the room and grabbed him by the arm. “Hey, Eddie, are you okay? If I had known you would react like this, I wouldn't have…”

Eddie sat up. He groaned. “It's fine, Annie. I didn't know either.” His throat was dry and his entire body hurt. “V? V, talk to me,” he continued to the symbiote hiding in his body. 

**_“You said they wouldn't hurt us,”_** Venom said quietly. **_“You said we could trust_** **_them!”_**

Eddie winced. He rubbed his chest, where he knew Venom was. “I'm sorry,” he said. “I didn't think, V, they don't know, I'm so sorry,” he whispered. 

“Know what?” Anne asked, not letting go of his arm.

Eddie looked up. “Venom can't take frequencies of a specific height. It hurts us.” 

A cautious tendril curled around his fingers. It became kind of solid, at least enough for Eddie to grip it and for both of them to have something to hold onto.  **_“Not your fault. Theirs. We have to run, Eddie. Humans only want to hurt us!”_ **

_ “V, they didn't mean to hurt us. Look at Anne. Does she look like she wanted to hurt us?”  _

**_“No…”_ **

_ “Exactly. Just...give her a little time to adjust, okay? For me?”  _ Eddie asked gently. 

Venom huffed.  **_“Fine. But if they hurt us another time…”_ **

“We will eat them, got it,” Eddie said aloud. Anne looked at him weirdly, but decided not to comment. That was probably for the better.

He pushed himself off the table, groaning at the strain in his limbs. 

“Hey, Eddie, if you don't hate us for this, you could stay at our place a bit. I don't think you have a lot of money left now,” Anne said when they returned to the car. 

Eddie could sense the displeasure in his other, but he knew they didn't have anywhere to stay. “Yeah. Uh, thanks, Annie. I...we appreciate it.”

She smiled and patted his arm. “I'm really sorry. If we had known…”

Eddie lifted his hand and smiled back at her. “It's fine. I should've asked about the noise thing.” 

The symbiote shifted inside him to remind him of their presence.  **_“Are you still in love with her, Eddie?”_ ** they asked.

Eddie pressed the tendrils still entwined with his hand to his chest.  _ “Human emotions are weird, V. I still care about her, but she's got Dan now and I'm pretty content with you around.”  _

“Hey, can I talk to them?” Anne suddenly asked, motioning at Eddie. They got closer to the car and it was late. No one would see the symbiote.

Venom’s head appeared from Eddie's wrist, albeit a little reluctantly. The tendrils didn't release his hand.  

**“Hello, Anne,”** they greeted tightly. 

“You do take care of him, right?” she asked immediately. Eddie looked the other way. 

**“Of course!”** Venom almost sounded offended at that question, which put a grin on Eddie's face. 

“Good,” he heard Anne say. 

And then they got in the car, back to the apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yall pay more attention to what i write than i do so if you didnt run to the comment section asap after eddie said love then im disappointed in you


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey  
> Here's more fluff because Supernatural is killing my dumb emotional gay ass

__

It was late, the sky was relatively clear, and Eddie could tell Venom was enamoured by the stars that littered the sky.

**_“My home planet never showed any stars, it was too dark,”_ ** the symbiote explained quietly. Eddie leaned his head against the window. 

_ “Do you know the constellations?”  _ Eddie asked in return. He lifted a finger and pointed at a couple of stars in the sky, tracing them.  _ “They're imaginary figures humans like to look at. The stars are a puzzle of sorts.”  _

He sensed a twinge of curiosity from his other and smiled gently.  _ “They're far away, but that doesn't stop humanity from analyzing them. Humans like to know everything. It's our fatal flaw and our greatest trait. Sometimes knowing nothing is just better.”  _

Eddie dragged his finger over the glass to point at the brightest star in the sky.  _ “Stars shine really bright, they're just far away. The sun is the brightest and the closest, but it only shows during the day when the Earth is turned so it shines on our side of the Earth. If we look into it, we go blind, but that doesn't keep some of us from trying.”  _

He felt Venom on his chest, their head pushed out of his shirt to look through their own eyes, pressed against their host with a soft purr of content. Eddie absently patted the creature as he continued explaining in their shared mindspace, completely forgetting that they were in the car with two others.

It was just them, the stars and the fresh air that came in when Venom opened the window. This was one of those moments Eddie wished could last forever. The way Venom stared at the passing cars and the night sky, it made all the torture worth it. 

Eddie wasn't sure when he fell asleep, he just knew he did and that V was curled up like a cat on his chest. The apartment came into view and Anne parked the car with ease. 

Anne and Dan went to bed as soon as they entered the apartment, Anne giving Eddie another hug before going into the bedroom. 

“C'mon Love, we have to sleep,” he muttered when the couple was away. 

**_“Love?”_ ** Venom asked. They let Eddie drag their tired body to the sofa. 

Eddie hummed in agreement, closing his eyes. “If you don't like it…” he said.

**_“No, it's nice. It's good.”_ ** Black goo formed in his arms and nestled under his chin. It was nice. Made him feel protected. Safe.

“Goodnight, Love.” 

**_“Goodnight, Eddie.”_ **

 

They awoke to the smell of pancakes, and damn, for a short moment Eddie thought the past six months had been some horrible nightmare.

Then the black goo still cradled in his arms shifted and a small symbiote head stared at him.  **“Good morning,”** Venom greeted with a small grin. 

He smiled. “Mornin’ V,” he said, before wincing at the rough sound of his voice. 

Venom  _ booped his nose  _ and hovered over his head to tell Anne  **“He's awake!”**

Eddie laughed.  _ “I'm not awake. I'm waking up. There's a difference.”  _

“Eddie, get up. You need new clothes, a pair of good shoes, possibly a toothbrush, so we're shopping today,” Anne said from behind the back of the sofa.

Eddie rolled over and looked up at his ex-fiancée. “What time is it?” 

**“Eight thirty,”** Venom read from the analog clock beside the TV. 

Eddie groaned. It wasn't late, especially after how little sleep he'd gotten used to in the compound, but it felt like five thirty in the damn morning. “Five more minutes,” he murmured, rolling over.

Anne and Venom got along great, as expected. Anne was still a little nervous around the alien creature, but if Eddie was so relaxed about it, they couldn't be that bad. 

His limbs moved on their own. Venom pushed him around, trying to get him to stand up. “V, stop, I'll get up!” Eddie said through short bouts of laughter. 

Venom gave control back. Eddie sat up and smiled at them. 

**“Up,”** Venom said, wrapping a tendril around his wrist and one around the table to tug at their host.  **“Anne says pancakes taste nice.”**

Eddie let his other lead him to the table, before they dissolved and left only a black ring around his finger.  _ “Interesting choice.” _

**_“While you slept, Anne said that people who are unavailable have a ring around their finger to show that. We are one, Eddie. You are mine.”_ **

Eddie shivered. It felt odd, but it felt good and he knew Venom would never hurt him, so he just went along with it.  **_“You enjoy it, don't you?”_ ** Venom asked with a hint of amusement. 

Eddie blinked slowly and just ate a piece of his pancakes, which definitely shut the symbiote up.  _ “D'you like pancakes?”  _ he asked.

**_“They're good, and they make you happy, so yes, we like pancakes.”_ ** Venom spread warmth through their body and returned to their spot in their ribcage.  

Eddie choked on his pancakes. “Shut up!” he whisper-shouted. 

Dan and Anne, who had been previously talking, glanced at him. 

“V's being weird, you...you can talk!” he told the couple quickly. 

Anne chuckled. 

Dan shook his head. “You do realize that's an alien creature you're talking about?” 

“I have spent over half a  _ year  _ in lockup with them right there, I think I can be a pretty good judge of whether or not they're acting weird.” Eddie looked Dan in the eyes. “I know them.” 

Dan turned back to his food in silence. 

Venom was his. Only he knew if there was something up with them. He knew it was hard to accept an alien symbiote, hell, he'd struggled himself, but now… Just hearing someone speak bad about V made him want to punch him. 

They finished breakfast. Anne grabbed their plates and put them in the dishwasher. “I have to go to work,” Dan apologized. He kissed Anne and nodded vaguely at Eddie.

Eddie walked to the sofa and sat down. He reached for the remote. The news was on. 

_ “I can assure you that what happened in my building was an accident with the experiments. We will continue,”  _ said Carlton  _ motherfucking  _ Drake to the interviewer on screen.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck guys im so sorry i took 2 months i was watching & writing spn & holding up my wlw insta & then spn end announcement happened & im just sad

Just seeing Drake's face made Eddie shake in fear. His face paled, staring at the screen like he'd seen a ghost. He sort of had, considering they'd  _ stabbed the damn guy.  _

Venom moved a tendril to the remote and turned the TV off quickly.  **“Eddie!”**

“We killed him, didn't we?” Eddie mumbled, looking helplessly at the symbiote's head hovering in front of his face. 

**“Humans don't come back from death, do they?”** Venom asked quietly. 

Eddie slowly lifted his arms and pulled Venom to his chest. Looking back, it was almost funny how his first instinct was to protect the symbiote. “Not that I know of.” 

They gathered more of their mass in Eddie's lap, knowing it made their host feel safer. Humans liked to feel the presence of their closest loved one. 

“He'll come after us,” Eddie whispered. “He'll find us, Annie, it's not  _ safe.”  _

Anne, who only now walked into the living room, looked at her ex. “What's not safe?”

Eddie felt like there was a knot in his throat. “Drake is coming for us, Annie. He'll try to take us again. You're in danger.” He hated putting her in danger yet again. She shouldn't have anything to do with this. 

“I'm not leaving you behind, you know,” Anne just said. 

**“You'll have to. We don't know what he'll do to get us back.”** Even Venom sounded worried. They didn't know Anne for long, but Eddie's memories were enough for them to get attached to her. 

Anne placed her hand on Eddie's shoulder. Eddie was still shaking, curled around Venom. “Please, Annie. I don't want to put you in danger,” he begged. 

**_“Eddie, he probably doesn't know where we are.”_ **

_ “He'll find out soon enough, V, we can't risk it.” _

**_“Then we'll protect her. We wouldn't live in fear anymore, remember?”_ **

“I can't do it, V. I can't,” Eddie breathed. 

**_“Not you, Eddie. Never just you. We can do it.”_ **

Venom nudged his chin, curling tendrils around Eddie’s torso.  **_“Together.”_ **

Eddie dug his fingers into the mass in his arms. “They'll hurt you. Hurt  _ us.”  _

Anne stood and walked to the kitchen, catching the hint that they needed to be alone.

**“We're outside the cage now.”** Venom's head lifted from the mass, looking directly into Eddie's eyes. Eddie lifted his head slightly to look back. 

“What if they put us back in?” he asked. 

**“They won't, Eddie. When we were in the cage, we were weak. They made us weak. No more weakness. We will win.”**

Now, the feeling of the symbiote enveloping his body was comforting. 

“I can't-- we can't-- what about the sounds? He probably has something on him that can play a harmful frequency and hurt us.” 

**“Maybe he will. We don't know.”**

“If he hurts you again, V…”

**“We're stronger now.”**

Eddie sighed. “I'm scared.” 

One tendril lifted and trailed his cheek.  **“We'll be okay, Eddie.”** The symbiote leaned their head closer and pressed a light kiss to Eddie's lips.  **“I promise.”**

Eddie froze, staring directly at Venom's head. What was that? 

**“I'm sorry,”** Venom said when they realized his confusion. 

“V,” Eddie breathed. He lifted his hands and grabbed their head. “What…?”

**“When humans care about each other, they press their lips together,”** Venom explained slowly. 

Eddie laughed. It was a bit of a watery laugh, amused, but with Drake's return still fresh in his mind. 

Venom blinked their eyes.  **“If I did something wrong…”**

His laugh faded into an amused grin. “No, V, you're…” 

If the symbiote had muscles, they would have tensed by now.  **“I'm what, Eddie?”**

Eddie leaned forward and returned the kiss, equally soft and short. “Perfect. You're perfect, V.” 

And that was it. That made something in both of them snap. Venom leaned forward to connect their mouths yet again, grip on Eddie's body only tightening and pushing him against the sofa.  **_“I'm not perfect,”_ ** they said in their shared mindspace.  **_“We are.”_ **

And for a second, just that one moment, Eddie felt like he was home the way he'd never felt anywhere else.

Because here he had his other half with him.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *insert I LIVE!!! gif here*

Eddie slowly pulled away again, breathless. black tendrils slid over his body, under his clothes, touching him  _ everywhere.  _ “Anne is waiting for us,” he tried helplessly, squirming under the touches. 

Venom merely grinned at him.  **_“She can wait a little longer,”_ ** they stated, clearly enjoying this.

“She's literally in the other room!” Eddie exclaimed, his voice cracking. “She's not deaf!”

**_“It was Anne who brought it up, you know?”_ **

“Maybe she did, but she didn't mean when we're about to go out! V! That's something you don't do with your ex in the same  _ street!  _ Let alone  _ apartment!”  _ Eddie nearly yelled, although he managed to restrain himself.

Yes, he was curious and very much into it, but not with Anne so close. Not with his ex-fiancée only twenty feet away from him in an apartment with thin walls. 

Amusement ran through his mind as the symbiote finally stopped.  **“You're embarrassed,”** Venom pointed out.

“No shit. Look, I would  _ love  _ to explore all that. Really. But not on the sofa of my ex, in the apartment of my ex, within hearing distance of my ex.”

The symbiote laughed.  **"All right."**

Eddie sighed and slumped against the sofa. "You're a little shit."

**"I aim to please, Eddie."**

He remained on the sofa a little longer to catch his breath before standing up and heading into the kitchen, Venom on his shoulder. 

Anne shot him an amused look. "Ready to go? You're about the same size as Dan, so you can grab something of his." 

Eddie nodded.

Not ten minutes later they were on their way to the shopping mall. 

"You'll have to get a job. Get your life back together," Anne told him while she drove.

Eddie had his eyes fixed on the black ring on his finger. "How? The Life Foundation has the entire world in its grip. Soon as I apply for a job, they will know where I am. This is risky enough." 

Anne drummed her fingers on the wheel. "You can't keep living with us. We don't know how long it will take to end Drake. Venom makes Dan uncomfortable, and we simply can't provide for you too." 

"He can get used to them. All I ask is that we can have a place to stay until the threat has passed. I promise, we'll leave you alone when it's over."

She placed her hand on his knee and sighed. "It'll be okay, Eddie." 

 

By the time they were finished, Dan called.

"He has the results," Anne said as they got into the car. 

 

Dan shook Eddie's hand when they arrived. Eddie hid a chuckle at the tense, formal greeting. He hadn't expected the man to prioritize them, to be honest.

"Eddie. I would really love to tell you good news. However, from what we could retrieve from the MRI, it seems that the symbiote occupying your body is eating at your intestines. This may prove fatal," Dan explained, showing the screens. 

Eddie placed his hand on his chest.

**_"It's not. Eddie, listen to me, it's not. I protect us. Promise,"_ ** Venom said to him, anxiously darting around in his chest. 

"Eddie," Anne said, reaching out to him. 

He slapped away her hand and stepped back, his back against the glass wall separating them from the MRI. "Don't touch me." 

"Listen to me, Eddie. Listen to  _ yourself.  _ You're dying," she begged. 

"No! I was in there for seven months, Anne! They were the only one I could trust in there! They would  _ never  _ kill me!" His voice cracked in desperation, clinging to the hope that the MRI was lying. 

**_"_ ** **I would never hurt Eddie,"** Venom confirmed. 

Anne took a deep breath. "Eddie, please." Her eyes turned to Dan, who nodded in response.

The doctor pushed a button and the glass doors behind Eddie opened. 

Anne pushed him inside and the doors closed before he could step out again, leaving them locked inside. 

He could feel his breath speed up from sheer panic. "Let me out, Anne! Do you really believe him over me?! He knows  _ nothing  _ about Venom!" he cried out. 

Anne placed her hand on the glass. "I'm sorry, Eddie."

The next moment was unbearable. Torture. The torture he'd experienced in the facility had been superficial, this hurt him even in his bones. 

Venom was ripped from him. He frantically reached to keep them with him, but as soon as the symbiote was loose, Anne and Dan pulled him out. "No!" he cried. 

The black blob jumped up against the glass dividing them, like they were trying to get through but they couldn't. 

"V…" Eddie placed his hand on the glass and exhaled shakily. "Why did you do that?" He turned his head to Anne.

Anne sighed. She placed her hand on his shoulder. "They were  _ killing  _ you, Eddie, please."

"If it weren't for them, I'd be dead now." He felt so empty without the symbiote. Like he wasn't meant to be all alone. 

Anne attempted to pull him into a hug, but Eddie quietly pulled away. "You've done enough," he said quietly, before he walked out of the room.

Out of the hospital.

Suddenly the sterile surroundings reminded him of sitting in a cell, of being fed through Venom, of experiments and killing and  _ pain. _

He just had to get out.

Venom would understand.

They had to. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The angst is back babey
> 
> & before you ask, I refuse to write smut containing the male anatomy (I'm a lesbian ykno)


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